


Hell is empty

by smallscreensidekick



Category: Daredevil (TV)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Demonic Possession, Demons, M/M, Mutual Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-01
Updated: 2016-03-01
Packaged: 2018-05-24 05:44:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,526
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6143372
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/smallscreensidekick/pseuds/smallscreensidekick
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"He couldn’t lie to Foggy, not after everything that had happened. The trust they had established between them was too hard-won. Matt would just tell him about his plans, as usual. And if Foggy had anything against them, Matt would go through with it anyway. Simple as that.<br/>Except nothing is ever simple when you’re Matt Murdock. And nothing ever goes as planned."</p>
<p>After Foggy finds out about Matt's nightly activities, they start discussing Matt's plans before he goes out to fight crime. There's just one more secret that hasn't been laid on the table yet.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hell is empty

**Author's Note:**

> Beta-read by the wonderful offensiveagentpie, who is partially to blame for this because she reblogged the quote below and said there was a Matt/Foggy fic in there somewhere. I went ahead and wrote that fic. Thank you so much! 
> 
> Features some demonic possession that isn't as straightforward as Matt thinks it is.

**_“The devil doesn’t come dressed in a red cape and pointy horns. He comes as everything you’ve ever wished for.”_ **

* * *

 

Matt had always trusted Foggy’s judgement. Whether it was minor stuff like what to do on a Friday night in law school or the big decisions like whether or not to actually quit their internship at Landman and Zack, Foggy’s opinion was the one that mattered. He valued Foggy’s thoughts even if he didn’t always listen to his advice. Matt knew he was stubborn like that sometimes.

When he started telling Foggy about his nightly activities as Daredevil, it felt only right to Matt to ask for his thoughts on that as well.

It took them a while. At first, Foggy would refuse to listen to any of Matt’s plans. “If I know when you’ll go and expose yourself to all that danger, I’ll be getting just as little sleep as you, buddy,” he said. “Or less, because I won’t be exhausting myself by beating up criminals in back alleys. I’ll just worry myself sick.”

But Foggy’s view on the matter changed a couple of days later. He said he had just worried about Matt anyway and not knowing if he had planned to beat up anyone in particular and how dangerous it was supposedly going to be, had only made it worse. “I’m up late  stress-eating and, for all I know, you might be sleeping like an angel,” Foggy joked.

Matt doubted he could do  _ anything _ like an angel, but he was glad he could finally tell Foggy what was going on in the streets. It was like Matt couldn’t hold back now that there was no more need for secrecy.

At least as far as the secret of his senses was concerned. There was still that other secret, the one that he had been keeping from Foggy for almost as long. Matt wished that he could have confessed it along with everything else. After all, if you already told your best friend that there was a whole part of your life that he didn’t know about, how bad would it be to confess your love for him in the same breath? It wouldn’t have mattered as much in the grand scheme of things, not when so much was already on the table.

But Matt still couldn’t get himself to say it. There was still too much at stake, too much he could lose. Telling Foggy how he really felt might make him turn his back on Matt completely,  and that would be a little too much to handle. So Matt had kept quiet. He was used to that.

And it was still so much more than he could have asked for, Foggy coming back to him, reconciling with him to the point where they could talk without Foggy’s breath catching in his throat at Matt’s words of violence, crime and justice. Matt was happy to hear Foggy’s opinion on his plans. Even if his opinion was “Matt, that is a terrible idea, don’t do that, please.”

No matter the level of danger involved, that’s what Foggy said the first few times Matt had let him know his plans for the night. But Matt  had known that would happen. Foggy wanted to keep him as safe as possible and Matt would kiss him for it if it was even remotely appropriate. He went through with his plans anyway. His personal safety and Foggy’s sleep weren’t more important than stopping human trafficking in Hell’s Kitchen.

Eventually, Foggy’s thoughts on Daredevil became more nuanced. Matt also knew that  _ that _ would happen. Foggy could be as rational as anyone once he had his emotions under control. He started making connections between different groups of criminals that Matt was up against. He saw how what was happening in the streets affected the cases they handled and tried to help out wherever he could.

“Just don’t expect me to join you in a fist fight,” Foggy said. “Don’t get me wrong, I look spectacular in spandex, but I’d rather fight crime the old-fashioned way – safe and seated.”

Foggy learned that some nights were safer than others for Matt and that he took different precautions for organized crime  than for spontaneous cases. Once all that was clear, Foggy approved of Matt’s plans more often than not, and if he didn’t, he usually just told him to be more careful than he would have been on his own. Because what if the robberies on 42 nd weren’t coincidental but connected to the drug ring on 43 rd ?

That was advice Matt could live with. It was like working as a team again. No, scratch that, they  _ were _ working as a team again and it brought a degree of normality back into Matt’s life that he hadn’t dared to hope for.

All of that was why it took Matt by surprise when Foggy’s comment on his plan for the night was no more than “I don’t think you should do that.”

“Seriously? But it’s all really straightforward. I go in and get the money they stole. Can’t be more than two men in the way,” Matt said, puzzled.

“Yeah, but you were injured pretty badly yesterday. What if they call for back-up? I don’t think you can handle another two goons if that cut in your leg hasn’t healed completely,” Foggy said, “And I just got the blood stains out of my carpet.”

Matt sighed, reaching for the cut self-consciously. “All right, I’ll wait till tomorrow. But under heavy protestation.”

“Noted.”

Foggy had been right about the drug ring. He would trust him on that one.

“I’ll stay home. Happy?” Matt asked.

“Very. Wanna watch a movie instead?”

* * *

The problem was that the money was gone the next day and Matt had no idea where they could have taken it. Every trace of the criminals had vanished over night.

Rationally, Matt knew that everybody was bound to make mistakes and he didn’t blame Foggy for giving him the wrong piece of advice for that particular night. He just hated himself for taking it. He should have known better, really. He had fought much tougher guys with much worse injuries. His plan would have worked, even if they had gotten so far as to call for back-up.

Foggy apologized multiple times anyway and Matt told him that it wasn’t his fault just as often. He meant it. They moved on.

* * *

They also moved on when something similar happened the following week. Matt had gotten word about an illegal weapons shipment that he wanted to break off. Twelve guys to knock unconscious maximum, then secure the weapons. Easy.

Except Foggy thought there might be more people protecting the weapons. Even if Matt could knock them all out, he couldn’t just get rid of a ship full of weapons without attracting more unwanted attention. Better see if he could find out where the weapons went, which would give him the location of the gang as well.

“Look at the advantages, Murdock. You get intel on the bad guys, you don’t get your melon injured and we still have time to get dinner that isn’t take-away for once,” Foggy said in that tone that Matt couldn’t resist easily, worry and comfort and humor all mixed into one.

Matt stayed. The shipment was received. All he could find out the next day was that the weapons had already left the city, probably to be distributed to organizations scattered across the country, impossible to track down until someone used the weapons on a grand scale.

Matt wasn’t sure what to do. Of course Foggy apologized again. Of course Matt told him not to worry about it. If it was anyone’s fault, it was his own, for preferring the warmth of Foggy’s apartment and sleeping on his couch to going out into the crisp winter air.

Thoughts about being dumbed down by soft stuff started creeping back into Matt’s head. He hated how awfully like Stick they still sounded. He just couldn’t push that old man far way enough, he always made it back into his head eventually. The satin sheets that Foggy kept at his place for when Matt crashed on the couch. The scrambled eggs Foggy made in the morning before they left for work. Foggy himself, his body, his voice, his whole presence. Soft stuff tuning out the harsh reality of the streets outside. The streets Matt swore to protect and failed to.

This had to stop.

No more lingering touches before Matt went out into the streets. No more long hugs when he stumbled into Foggy’s apartment with the thin excuse that Foggy’s was closer to where he had ended up than his own. No more pretending like Foggy was his to come home to. Because he wasn’t, however much Matt wished he were.

He couldn’t lie to Foggy though, not after everything that had happened. The trust they had established between them was too hard-won. Matt would just tell him about his plans, as usual. And if Foggy had anything against them, Matt would go through with it anyway. Simple as that.

Except nothing is ever simple when you’re Matt Murdock. And nothing ever goes as planned.

“So what’s the mission briefing today, Matthew?” Foggy asked and sat down on the couch opposite of Matt.

“Human trafficking ring with their headquarters supposedly near Fogwell’s. There should be an exchange happening today and I want to stop it.” Matt kept his speech measured, despite the fact that the protestations against any objections Foggy might have were already at the front of his mind and on the tip of his tongue.

“And how big is that human trafficking ring?”

“Maybe about twenty men? Couldn’t be much more.”

“Plus however many people their clients bring for protection though, right?” Foggy asked. “Are you sure you’re up for this?”

Matt’s response came out quicker and more aggressive than he would have liked. “Yes, Foggy, I’m sure. Just let me handle this, okay?”

Foggy flinched slightly at the volume of Matt’s voice. “Sorry,” he said quietly. “Just wanted to make sure you know what you’re getting yourself into.”

“No, I’m sorry,” Matt said, calmer now. “I didn’t mean to shout.” There was a brief silence before he continued. “I want to tell you about what I’m doing out there and I want to hear what you have to say, really. But the last few things that happened while I stayed here with you, I could have stopped. And this is about people’s lives, so I have to go out and save them or no one will. Do you understand?”

“Yes, of course, I’m not stupid,” Foggy said and got up. He was pacing the room, as always unable to sit still when he was upset. “Look, I know I haven’t been helpful with your superhero stuff. I know I’ve kept you from important business, from doing good. But that’s just because I would always rather have you here with me than out on the streets. I’m sorry.” He took a deep breath. “I like to know that the people I love are safe, too, you know?”

A familiar feeling spread through Matt’s body. It always seemed to happen when Foggy expressed any affection towards him. It was so comforting but so different from what he felt for Foggy. It felt like a knot in his stomach that couldn’t be untied.

Foggy was still pacing across the living room and Matt couldn’t take it. He got up, found Foggy and hugged him. It was to stop him from walking as much as to show him that he cared. He cared about Foggy’s feelings. He cared about what Foggy felt for him, he wasn’t just being reckless. He wasn’t doing this to hurt him. Matt tried to express all the things he couldn’t say by holding Foggy as tightly as he could.

Neither of them made any move to break the embrace. Foggy held him just as tightly and Matt was pretty sure he could feel tears where Foggy’s face rested in his neck. Slowly, Foggy pulled his head away from Matt’s shoulder and moved his hands up to Matt’s face, gently stroking his cheek with one thumb.

“I just can’t let anything happen to you,” Foggy whispered before he leaned in and kissed Matt.

The kiss felt just as desperate for contact as the hug, longing to express something that wouldn’t find its place in words. Matt didn’t want to let go. Foggy didn’t seem to either. He moved Matt against the nearest wall, still kissing and breathing heavily whenever they came up for air. His tears still hadn’t dried and Matt felt his own eyes welling up.

“So when you said you loved me,” Matt said between kisses. “You meant you love me  _ like this _ ?”

Foggy’s laugh came between two small sobs. “Yes, of course, you idiot. This is not how I kiss people platonically.”

“Since when-“

“Does it matter?”

“No. Now is good enough.”

Matt, however consciously, decided that this needed to happen now. He had to go on kissing Foggy now. Now was the time to wipe both their tears away.

He would find a way to deal with the human trafficking ring tomorrow morning.

This was more important, more urgent. This was more important than anything.

* * *

Matt sincerely hoped that his information about the number of people that were sold yesterday was wrong. He had managed to track down they buyer’s base but had only found and freed five women instead of the rumored six. He really, really wanted to believe his sources were the ones who had made the mistake.

He sighed and collapsed on his couch. Matt would love to be able to say that he woke with a start at three in the morning, ready to put on his suit and beat up the bad guys. But that wouldn’t be true. Instead, he had spent the whole night next to Foggy, sound asleep. They had been sharing a bed for the first time since they had visited Foggy’s family during their last year in law school. Matt had slept until ten, which was more than late in his book, and practically curled up close to Foggy. Their bodies were touching, Foggy had one arm across Matt’s waist and Matt only had to move his head slightly to kiss Foggy’s nose. It was too warm to get up immediately, so Matt stayed in bed for another hour. In some ways, he guessed that he still had to process what had happened the night before.

He needed to make sure that this was real and he did so by drawing his fingers lightly across Foggy’s body, careful not to wake him. A while later, he was pretty convinced he wasn’t dreaming. Eventually, Matt’s sense of duty won over his need for comfort, as it always did. Reluctantly, he got out of bed, pressing one last kiss on Foggy’s forehead.

With some dread, Matt realized that he wouldn’t go out right now without the fear of the eventual repercussions driving him forward. He knew he would feel awful later if he didn’t try to save the victims now. He would feel guilty. There was nothing heroic or admirable about why he was doing what he was doing. In a way, it was nothing more than a preemptive move to protect his own precious feelings.

Lying on his couch now and still unsure about the success of his mission, Matt wanted nothing more than to go back to Foggy again. Everything else just seemed unreasonably hard at the moment.

* * *

“Are you sure that’s what you want, Matt?” Foggy asked a couple of hours later, back at his apartment.

“Absolutely sure. I need to lay low for a while. I’m no use to Hell’s Kitchen all worked up like this.” Matt was sitting next to Foggy with their hands intertwined.

“You don’t have to do this because of me, though. You know that, right?” Foggy asked.

“No, I know. Believe me, I’m doing this for myself more than anything. I need to focus before I can go out there again. Focus on why I’m doing this and how I can help.” Matt scoffed and went quiet for a second. When he continued, it was hardly more than a whisper. “I never thought I’d say this but I think I need some rest.”

Foggy pulled him close, so that Matt’s head rested on his shoulder. “Don’t worry. You can rest with me,” he said. “I’m proud of you, actually, for admitting this. A few weeks ago, you wouldn’t have taken a break if both your legs were missing, Mr. ‘Tis-But-A-Scratch.”

Matt smiled. He could tell Foggy was grinning, too. “Thank you.”

“Nothing to thank me for,” Foggy said. “I’m sure you’ll be kicking ass again in no time at all.”

* * *

Matt’s resolve to lay low lasted exactly one week. He couldn’t say he didn’t enjoy it while it lasted. In fact, he enjoyed it very much. He and Foggy did their work from home and told Karen to do the same. They were pretty sure she saw right through their excuse that an exterminator had to take care of some sort of bug  infestation  in their office, but they could deal with that later.

It almost felt like law school again, minus the exam stress and with added comfort and closeness. They stayed in Foggy’s apartment for most of the day, only occasionally going out to get groceries or to catch some fresh air when it felt necessary. For the most part, they were content with just staying around each other.

“We have a lot of cuddling to catch up on,” Foggy said.

Matt felt like they did well with making up for lost opportunities. They always seemed to be touching, one way or another. They stayed in bed for hours. They kissed in so many different ways that Matt could hardly keep track. Foggy cooked some decent meals, burned one and ordered take-out instead. For the first time in too long a while, he narrated a movie for Matt again.

Matt had avoided domesticity for so long, he was surprised how easily he slipped into it. But it was just so easy with Foggy by his side. He read Matt a legal thriller one night before going to sleep. Matt pointed out some of the unrealistic plot points in the book. “That’s not how the law works,” he said.

“You are a nerd, Murdock, you know that?” Foggy said and kissed the top of his head.

“’M not,” Matt answered, already drifting off to sleep.

“You are and I love you for it,” Foggy whispered. “You know that, too, right?”

Laying low couldn’t have been easier and it couldn’t have been more enjoyable. But that night, Matt couldn’t keep still anymore. He woke up around two in the morning, alert and awake like he hadn’t been in ages. It was time. He needed to go out. Not because he would feel bad about not going but because he  _ could _ do it, because he could help and it would make a difference.

Foggy was still sleeping soundly next to him, so Matt slipped out of bed as silently as he could. He had tried to drown out the sounds of the city as much as possible for the last few days but while he put on his suit, he became aware of them again. The cries of different varieties, the alarms, the cars, the people. He knew where he was headed, though. The place where the trafficking ring had given the women to their buyer last week.

* * *

Matt was almost entirely sure that these criminals wouldn’t use their headquarters for an exchange of goods. Organized crime on that level was rarely that stupid. He didn’t expect to find any of the ring’s members at the old warehouse. But it was always possible that one of them slipped up and left something there that could tell him something about their location.

He needed to get to the root of this. Saving individuals only did so much good and only saved the victims so much pain. Dismantling the ring itself would save him a lot of trouble in the long run.

Matt expected the warehouse to be empty.  However, a  half an hour after his arrival, he picked up on a heartbeat near him. And a familiar one at that.

“If you’re looking for these scumbags, they left Hell’s Kitchen a week ago,” Jessica said from across the big hall, knowing full well she didn’t have to shout for Matt to hear her.

“What are you doing here, Jessica?” Matt asked.

“Same as you, I suppose. Looking for clues as to where they went and failing,” she said, getting close. “Where have you been?”

“I’ve only been gone for a week.”

“Don’t act like that’s four holidays in a row for you, Murdock.” She had reached him now. “Where have you been?”

“Laying low.”

Jessica scoffed. “With who?”

“With… Foggy.”

“Fucking finally.” She didn’t seem the least bit surprised. “Look, if I were you, I’d go back to laying low, there’s nothing to be done here. From what I’ve heard, they’ve had some weird demonic thing  helping them  that told them when to leave the city and…”

“Wait – what weird demonic thing?” Matt interrupted.

“Sounds crazy, right? Hell’s Kitchen is finally living up to its name. Yeah, apparently the ring’s connection to hell fed them information and shielded off intruders like me. It was pretty easy to see through, though. One night Luke was standing outside my door waxing poetic about how he wanted to give us another chance, so I gathered there was something fishy going on. Luke would never do that out of his own accord, totally out of character. Pretty crappy demon if you ask me but hey, what can you expect when it teams up with an ordinary human trafficking ring, right? Matt? You still with me?”

But just as Jessica asked that, Matt took off towards the nearest exit. And before she could piece the puzzle together and whisper “oh shit”, he was already well on his way.

* * *

There were several questions running through Matt’s head as he made his way back to Foggy’s apartment. How could he let this happen? That’s why Foggy had started being so cautious about Matt’s plans again. The demon was trying to keep him off the streets. That was why Foggy had suddenly declared his love for him. It was to keep Matt out of the way by giving him someone to stay home for. And not just someone but the person he had been in love with for ages now. 

Why hadn’t Matt noticed? Did he notice and then decided to ignore it? But the biggest and loudest question was how could he ever believe that Foggy could love him out of his own free will? He should have known something wasn’t going right when too many good things were happening to him. Too good to be true, that was what it was.

For a split second, Matt had considered going back to his own apartment. Foggy wouldn’t want to see him again after this, and with good reason. Matt could hide, break contact, lose Foggy’s number and leave Hell’s Kitchen. And if anyone would wonder why Matt Murdock and Daredevil went missing on the same day, so be it. He might still go through with that plan but he had to take care of Foggy first, make sure that the demon left his body, or his heart or his mind, wherever it had made a nice cozy home for itself. It was the least he could do for Foggy.

As Matt climbed in through the window and took off his mask, Foggy was already sitting on the couch, waiting.

“Hello Matthew,” he said.

“I take it that it’s not Foggy speaking?” Matt asked. His voice sounded to his own ears, powerless.

“Not strictly speaking, no,” the demon said. Foggy’s body was perfectly still, expect for the lips moving. It didn’t feel like Foggy at all. “Look, I’m going to save you the trouble and the embarrassment of throwing odd pieces of Latin at me,” it went on. “You found me out, there’s nothing I can do, it was good while it lasted. So I’m going to disappear now and leave you and your moral dilemma alone.”

“But why did you –,“ Matt began to shout, just to direct his anger somewhere. But the demon cut him off.

“I don’t have time for this,” it sighed. “Short version: more fun that way, more heartbreak, more of that precious Catholic guilt of yours. And it’s so infinitely easy, baiting you with affection.”

There was a change in Foggy’s body. It went from rigid to relaxed in a matter of seconds. All the sounds that made up Foggy returned – his breathing, his hair brushing against his shoulders, his skin against his clothes. The demon was gone.

“Matt?” Foggy asked in surprise. He sounded drowsy. “I didn’t see you come in. Must have drifted off. Are you all right? You look… angry.”

Matt was silent. He didn’t know where to begin. He didn’t know whether to cry his eyes out or to put on a brave face. “You were possessed,” he managed, going for the brave face. “Don’t worry, I know how it sounds, and it’s over now, the demon left.”

“The demon. That’s what it was,” Foggy said. “Honestly, I’m not even that surprised. Still pissed off though.” Foggy seemed relatively relaxed but his words and his heartbeat confirmed Matt’s fears. Foggy remembered what had happened and he didn’t like it.

“I’m sorry you had to go through this, Foggy.” Matt didn’t mean to raise his voice it happened anyway, probably to hold the tears back. “I just…I can’t believe it made you say those things… and do those things.” He couldn’t help but practically spit out these words, otherwise they wouldn’t have come out as more than a whisper.

When Foggy spoke again, his voice suddenly sounded flat and devoid of all energy. “Yeah, I can’t believe it either.”

Before the silence could grow larger between them, Matt muttered a last “I’m sorry,” and climbed out through the window again. There were no more words he could offer and he couldn’t hold himself together much longer either. And to think that he had been able to believe in his own happiness just yesterday.

* * *

There had been no calls from Foggy since Matt ran out on him four days ago. There had been no calls from Karen either, so Matt suspected Foggy had made some sort of excuse for him at the office. Even now, Foggy was more than Matt deserved.

Matt flinched at the sound of his phone  suddenly ringing . His apartment was quiet and he had been focused on sounds from blocks away, almost dozing off. He wasn’t getting a lot of sleep. He wasn’t getting a lot of anything.

_ Jessica Jessica _ his phone pronounced and took away the tiny bit of hope that had gone through Matt’s brain for a fraction of a second.

“Yes?”

“And an equally energetic hello to you, Matt,” Jessica said. “I… um… wanted to tell you something about the demon case. There’s something you should know.”

Matt was bracing himself for after-effects of the possession, the return of the demon or at least  the return of the human trafficking ring. “Go ahead.”

“I met Luke this morning and the whole possession thing seems to be a bit more complicated than I made it out to be.”

There it was. Would it be a disease that affected the victims after the possession? Permanent damage with no chance of recovery?

“It’s not strictly speaking possession at all,” Jessica said. “Turns out I was right, it’s a pretty shit demon and it can’t fully possess people for more than a minute or something. But it does something worse in a way. It makes victims give in to certain impulses, certain wishes that the victim has but otherwise wouldn’t necessarily act on.”

“Does that mean…?” Matt began but stopped when he didn’t know what to say.

“It means that Luke wanted to give us another chance after all, in my case. It wasn’t the demon talking. I don’t know if that changes anything about whatever situation made you parkour out of the warehouse but… Matt?”

Matt was leaving his apartment already. “You can’t keep doing this to me, Murdock,” was the last thing he heard before he hung up the phone.

* * *

“I thought you  couldn’t use my door anymore,  since  you climb in through the window so often,” Foggy said when he let Matt in. He obviously tried to sound calm but he couldn’t keep the nervousness out of his voice. And even though he was joking, there was not cheer in what he was saying.

Matt closed the door behind him and followed Foggy into the living room. “Coming in through the window felt a little too dramatic,” Matt said, failing at an easy tone just as much.

“Didn’t think there was such a thing as too much drama for you,” Foggy said. “What are you doing here, Matt?”

“I wanted to see if I am as big of an idiot as I think I am,” Matt answered. Maybe he was a little dramatic.

“The answer to that is usually yes. You’ll have to elaborate,” Foggy said. There was an empty quality to his voice that Matt recognized from the few times that Foggy had been too exhausted to keep being upset about something. Matt wanted to make it go away as soon as he could.

“When I told you that you had been possessed, I thought that the demon had made you do things against your will,” Matt said. “I thought, because of that, that what we did was…” He couldn’t go on. Even after days of thinking about it, he still didn’t want to say it out loud.

“Matthew Michael Murdock,” Foggy said with something between exasperation and relief. “Did you think you made me love you against my will?”

“Maybe,” Matt said with his head hanging down.

“The answer is yes,” Foggy said and Matt was sure his own heart stopped for a second. “Yes, you are at least as much of an idiot as you thought. Maybe an even bigger idiot.” Foggy pulled him in for a hug that temporarily made it hard for Matt to breathe.

“And you say I’m dramatic,” Matt whispered.

“You had it coming,” Foggy said and gave him a long kiss. Matt had missed the feeling of Foggy’s lips on his own and it had only been a couple of days. How had he considered leaving this behind even for a second? “Seriously though, you are an idiot,” Foggy continued. “You made it sound like you thought me loving you was disgusting or something.”

“What? Did I?”

“Well, you said ‘I can’t believe it made you do those things’. But you made ‘those things’ sound as dirty as the dishes I left in our dorm kitchen sink over break once.”

Matt couldn’t help but laugh. Leave it to Foggy to lighten up a potentially heartbreaking situation. “To be fair, I thought that demon had completely controlled you for the last few weeks,” Matt said. “And you didn’t say anything to the contrary.”

“In my defense, I still hadn’t processed that demons exist,” Foggy said and kissed Matt again. “I’m sorry, buddy. I guess we’re both huge idiots.”

“That’s okay. We can be huge idiots together.” They still hadn’t let go of each other and Matt wasn’t planning to. “If you’re absolutely sure the demon didn’t make you love me.”

Foggy chuckled, but Matt was only half joking. A small part of him still wasn’t sure that Foggy could genuinely care for him that way, especially after everything that had happened.

“I’m absolutely sure,” Foggy said and Matt could tell he was serious again. “I’ve loved you since law school, that’s how I know. The nights we stayed up late talking, how stubborn you are about doing the right thing, the way you laugh after you’ve had too much to drink. That’s what made me love you, not some hotshot from hell.”

Matt thought he was done crying for now, but there were tears rolling down his face again. He hugged Foggy tighter. “I love you, too. I’m sorry.”

Foggy had to wipe a few tears from his own face. “It’s all right. I’m sorry that demon made you feel like what we have isn’t real. And I’ll do everything I can to make it feel real again.”

“And how do you plan on doing that?” Matt asked, grinning.

“I don’t know yet,” Foggy said. “But dinner and a movie would feel pretty real right now. We’ll see where it goes from there.”

“Sounds perfect,” Matt said and slowly let go of Foggy. It was easier now that he was sure he could hold him whenever he wanted to.

**Author's Note:**

> The title is borrowed from the Shakespeare quote "Hell is empty and all the devils are here" from The Tempest because I'm a nerd. 
> 
> Come shout at me over at senor-foggy-law.tumblr.com


End file.
